In a metal tip dart game, a dart is thrown at a target area, typically outlined by a wire grid on the face of the dart board. If a dart point strikes an obstruction like a wire, there is a possibility that the dart will bounce from the target and fall to the floor.
Similarly, in a soft tip or electronic game, the dart is thrown at a target which is honeycombed with holes designed to receive the plastic pointed tips of the dart. The areas between the holes, although tapered to help guide the dart points into the holes, occasionally cause the darts to rebound thereby resulting in no score.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,322, Bottelsen, pertains to a no bounce dart having an elongated body with a point sliding in one end of the body and a tail carried at the other end of the body. On impact with a target, the momentum of the body causes the point to slide in the body to a position where the body impacts the head of the point and hammers the point into the target. If an obstruction is hit directly, mere horizontal movement of the point may not be sufficient to prevent dart rebound.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,893,787 pertains to a movable point torpedo dart. A movable tip dart is also shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,684,851.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,126 teaches a dart having a flexible or pivotal point which serves to reduce bounce off.
U.S Pat. No. 4,697,815 discloses a dart having a cavity into which the rear portion of the point can enter, thereby engaging the rear wall of the cavity and shifting the point into the target.
It is an object of this invention to reduce the bounce off of a dart from an obstruction on a target by utilizing a movable point that is capable of moving both horizontally and vertically as compared to the axes of the dart.
It is a further object of the present invention to enhance the adhesiveness of the dart to the target by utilizing movable ballast which enhances the momentum of the dart and permits changing weight and balance of the dart.